The inventive concept relates generally to nonvolatile memory devices and related methods of operation. More particularly, certain embodiments of the inventive concept relate to nonvolatile memory devices and related wordline driving methods.
Semiconductor memory devices can be roughly divided into two categories according to whether they retain stored data when disconnected from power. These categories include volatile semiconductor memory devices, which lose stored data when disconnected from power, and nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices, which retain stored data when disconnected from power. Examples of volatile semiconductor memory devices include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and static random access memory (SRAM), and examples of nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices include read only memory (ROM), flash memory, magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), and phase change random access memory (PRAM).
Nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices allow data to be stored in permanent or reprogrammable fashion, depending on the fabrication technology used. They can be used for user data, programs, and microcode storage in a wide variety of applications in the computer, avionics, telecommunications, and consumer electronics industries.
There is a continuing demand for nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices having improved qualities, such as better performance, lower cost, higher reliability. Accordingly, researchers are engaged in ongoing efforts to improve these and other aspects of nonvolatile semiconductor memory devices.